Fool4nine

If only grad schools were as desperate for students as Tom Cruz was that movie.

Me too! I'll be doing a skype interview as the short notice flights are expensive. I also got an email from VCU for a phone interview. I'm really, really stoked about that one. I think VCU has killer photo faculty and I'm really shocked that they are not a top ranked photo school considering that they are highly ranked in just about every other art media. What do all you guys think of photo at Tyler, VCU, OSU, and WUSTL? PS - phone interview today with SFAI. Another top (but expensive) school.

I'm so bored and anxious waiting for results that I've been putting together a powerpoint presentation to give an artist's lecture to a nearby college (hoping to improve the CV). I've also been reworking my website a bit. Adding some more work, changing colors and fonts, and adding the CV section. Let me know what you think. Link is in the signature. Good luck to everyone.

Somebody said they got a letter in the mail a couple of days ago for a SAIC interview. I believe the student going for photo. Perhaps it is still early and letters are still being sent or decisions still being made. I believe SAIC has a large program and may take awhile to choose all those invited to interview.

No SAIC mail for me so I assume that I'm on the "send rejection letter" list. Oh well. It's all so subjective. The schools likely are looking to balance out the incoming students with each other and with their existing students. They would not want too many students with simular styles. One thing to keep in mind is that the schools do not know which students will ultimately become successful artists. Look back at art history - most long dead artists whose works now sell for 10's or hundreds of millions, were starving artists in their own time and had their works trashed by the establishment. If Yale or some other top school passes you over, it doesn't mean shit.

I can answer my own question. According to their website, new ARTS rankings come out on March 13th.

Fine Art Photography, not photojournalism.

Yes, many of the schools show missing items when I've recieved emails to say that the file is complete and ready for review. I think they get behind in updated the websites. The schools have been good about emailing if they are missing something.

Thanks leetimko. Also just got a call from Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) to advise that I was accepted there as well. It's getting exciting!

Just got my first acceptance (to balance out my Yale rejection). Accepted via email to Ohio State University. Also had a phone interview today with Ohio University at Athens.

Just got my first acceptance (to balance out my Yale rejection). Accepted via email to Ohio State University. Also had a phone interview today with Ohio University at Athens. And also got a phone call from Washington University in St. Louis (WashU) to advise I was accepted there too.

A national portfolio review means nothing to a school. I would not mention it anywhere in my submission materials. Doing so is to admit that you can't edit your own work (at least it could be interpreted that way). Getting such a review is only valuable if helps you to refine your portfolio. Work on building a strong cohesive body of work. Work on getting into some juried shows or publications to build your resume. Build an application money war chest and apply to more schools next year to increase your chances.

When and how, did you find out about MassART? I've heard nothing from them so far.

I'm finishing my undergrad (which I started over 30 years ago) at age 51. I'll be 52 when I start my MFA. Getting a great deal of debt is a bit scary at this age, but I'm having a great deal of fun pursuing an art education after raising a family and having several long careers. Never to late to go for it. Look at Kandinsky or Grandma Moses for inspiration. Both started later in life. I'm sure there are many more.

We can all look at the rejections as a good thing (provided we get at least one acceptance Art is so subjective. Professors response to our work will range from love to hate and everything in between. If a school doesn't really like our work, then it would be really uncomfortable to study there no matter how good the reputation of the school is. If the profs at Yale don't like my work enough to want me to study there, then they have nothing to teach me. Since they have nothing to teach me, its good to get a rejection letter from them so I can focus on schools that appreciate what I do. Yes, rejection can feel painful. But think about how many people that have seen your work and give it about 2 seconds when other people could look at it for an hour. Many people are just not going to get it. It may not be the fault of the work or the artist. When I showed my portfolio at a grad school meet, some loved it and said it is really strong, and some hardly glanced at it. The work was the same. The difference was the viewer. I'm ready for more rejections so I can focus on the schools that want me.

Thanks TheZane! I enjoyed looking at your photography too. I'm really glad that you are applying for painting and not photography - less competition! I enjoyed your paintings too. Especially the negative space work. They remind me of Kandinsky who is one of my favorite artists. You should check out the Argentine painter Xul Solar. He is my favorite and was inspired by Kandinsky.

Rejected by Yale. Received request for interview by SFAI.

Rejected by Yale. Received request for interview by SFAI.

Does anybody have a list of schools that provide online acceptance instead of email or letter? I know there are some, but I don't know which ones.

I assume that is the case at many schools. It's kind of scary that our success at a particular school is initially dependent upon what graduate students think of it. Good work might not even get seen by faculty who may have a greater appreciation for or understanding of a particular portfolio than that of graduate students.

I think you guys are all mistaken. I applied to the Rutgers Visual Arts MFA and there is not a requirement to resend the recommendation stuff via RUID credential's upload. In fact, under the RUID credential's upload, it does not list letters and also says NOT to upload anything previously sent. I believe that the only thing that you need to upload there is your resume if required by your program (I could not find such a requirement for visual arts but uploaded one anyway). I would make no sense to require recommendation people to do it twice. The school would be out of their minds to require that. You also have the option to upload unofficial transcripts if your official ones will not arrive in time. Here is the link to the list and you will see that letters are not listed. http://gradstudy.rutgers.edu/supporting.shtml

Results begin to trickle in mid-February. The majority come the first two weeks of March.

Sounds like a question worthy of emailing the school admissions staff.

You must be very confident! Those are all top flight schools with less than 5% acceptance rates. I also applied to those schools, but also many others with a higher chance of getting in. Good luck to you too and everyone else.

I know that you were speaking financially, and I generally agree with your points regarding financial success. That's why I said that I "somewhat" disagreed. But it also depends upon the medium. I live in a small rural community in very financially conservative Utah. There is no chance to make a living locally with fine art photography. There is simply no local market for it. In the capital city of Utah, experienced and well known photo artists are selling works for $300. Good luck living on that. With painting there is more opportunity here. But even so, the painting prices are depressed and there are lots of artists here. Very few can live on their art. Of course online opens doors anywhere.